


Bedtime

by timelordvictorious1



Series: Greenwood Royal Family Chronicles [6]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Movies), The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Good Parent Thranduil, Thranduil Not Being An Asshole, Young Legolas Greenleaf
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:55:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26299777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timelordvictorious1/pseuds/timelordvictorious1
Summary: Putting an elfling to bed is easier said than done.
Relationships: Legolas Greenleaf & Thranduil
Series: Greenwood Royal Family Chronicles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1676581
Comments: 1
Kudos: 84





	Bedtime

Thranduil was at his wits’ end. He had tried absolutely everything in his power to get his rowdy elfling to go to sleep. Three times Thranduil had put Legolas into bed, and three times Legolas had gotten out of bed to jump, run, and yell all around his room. It was always a hassle to get Legolas to go to bed, but never this much. Thranduil suspected that Legolas had cajoled one of the cooks to give him sweets after dinner. Legolas could be very persuasive when he wanted to be, and Thranduil was the only one with the power to resist him.

Who had given Legolas sweets, Thranduil didn’t know. Nor did he really care at that moment. The only thing he did care about was getting the elfling to sleep as soon as possible.

“Come on, Legolas. It’s time for bed! I mean it this time,” said Thranduil sternly as he picked up the rambunctious little elfling.

“I’m not sleepy!”

“Legolas, the entire kingdom has gone to sleep! You and I are the only ones still up! And I would very much rather not be awake right now!”

Thranduil’s day had been long, tedious, and tiring, and the last thing he wanted was to chase after his wayward son.

“Will you tell me a story, ada?”

“Fine! There was once a very very naughty elfling who didn’t do what his ada commanded. The ada was so angry that the naughty elfling was punished for disobedience!”

“Ada! That’s not a good story! Tell me a good one!”

“But it’s a true story, _tithen las_. Consider it a cautionary tale.”

“Ada,” said Legolas seriously, “I won’t be able to go to sleep until I hear a good story. You choose.”

On any other occasion, Legolas’ insolence might have earned him a scolding, but Thranduil was just desperate enough to try anything.

“Alright, I give up. What book do you want me to read from?”

Legolas knew the perfect book; his favorite book. It had various short stories of wizards, goblins, heroes, villains, and every other exciting thing he could possibly think of. 

“I will read you one story, Legolas. Choose a good one.”

Thranduil regretted letting Legolas choose the story. The sneaky elfling had chosen the longest story in the entire book. Luckily, he was sure that Legolas would fall asleep long before the end. He settled himself on a rocking chair nearby and laid Legolas down on his lap.

Thranduil began reading quietly, in the most soothing voice he could muster. Normally, he would read exciting stories to Legolas with a loud, animated voice, but that would be detrimental to his goal.

  
  
  
  
  


Thranduil was halfway through the story and very nearly falling asleep. Unfortunately, Legolas had positioned himself in such a way that Thranduil couldn’t tell whether he had fallen asleep or not. He assumed the elfling had fallen asleep; he hadn’t moved or talked since the story began. 

“Surely, he must be asleep,” thought Thranduil.

He allowed himself to stop reading and began to doze off then and there.

“Ada? Why did you stop reading?”

Thranduil was startled awake.

“Legolas! Why are you not asleep yet?” he yelled.

“I told you, ada. I’m not sleepy.”

Thranduil rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as best he could.

“ _Tithen las_ , I’m very sleepy. I can’t take much more of this. Will you please go to sleep?”

“No. I don’t think so,” answered the elfing matter-of-factly. 

Thranduil sighed, too tired to even be indignant about the response.

“What if I help you to not go to sleep?” asked Legolas sweetly.

Thranduil chuckled at the idea.

“What are you going to do? Give me some of the sweets one of the servants gave you?”

The guilty look on Legolas’ face confirmed all of Thranduil’s suspicions. 

“Close your eyes,” directed Legolas.

Thranduil followed his son’s command without giving it a second thought. He could hear Legolas moving around the room.

“If keeping my eyes closed is your idea to make me not fall asleep, you’re indeed mistak—”

Before he could even finish the sentence, he was jolted out of his chair by a projectile hurled straight at his face.

He opened his eyes to see that his son had thrown a feather pillow straight at him.

“Legolas! What is wrong with—-”

Again he was interrupted. This time his son had the audacity to walk up to him and hit him with another pillow.

“We’re going to have a pillow fight. It’s going to solve everything.”

“How so?” he asked in an increasingly-bewildered tone.

“I’m not sleepy. This will give me something to do. You are sleepy. This will help you wake up.”

Thranduil didn’t know if his son was actually making sense or if his sleep-deprived state had addled his mind. What he did know was that Legolas was making a lot of sense.

He picked up the pillow that Legolas had shied at him and smacked the elfling with it. 

Legolas, sensing that the game was on, began swinging his pillow wildly through the air, hoping to hit his ada with it.

It seemed to Thranduil that Legolas might have had the right idea. The pillow fight was immensely fun and had driven away all thoughts of sleep. He was even surprised at how good Legolas was at jumping at him from behind some piece of furniture and attacking him when he least expected it.

Legolas on the other hand was surprised that his ada could be so tired and so agile at the same time.

  
  


They were both so engrossed in their impromptu pillow fight, that neither of them heard the knocking at the door.

Without invitation, Galion stepped inside. He had clearly received a rude awakening from the father and son’s yells and laughter.

“Do you mind?” he asked irritatedly. “Some of us are tired and are trying to sleep!”

“I’m sorry, Galion,” said Legolas. “Are you sleepy?”

“Yes I am, _penneth_.”

Both Legolas and Thranduil shot each other the same mischievous look at the same time.

“We have a solution for that,” responded Thranduil.

“And what is that, pray tell?”

Having both discovered the cure for Galion’s affliction, they flung their pillows at their unsuspecting victim simultaneously and began to laugh uproariously. 

“I hope we do this again tomorrow!” yelled Legolas as he saw Galion getting ready to join in.   
  


“So do I!” replied Thranduil just as two pillows thrown by each of his opponents hit him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. Any thoughts, comments, questions, or constructive criticisms are welcome and appeciated.


End file.
